Health Care Reform Essay

The debate over health care reform has raged in America ever since the days of the Progressive Era, when European countries during the same period were adopting some kind of health insurance as a way to gain political allegiance, while the US federal government let the states decide. Insurance was largely left to businesses under the influence of unions and attracting experience workers, along with Medicare and Medicaid . 46.3 million Americans were uninsured according to the 2008 Census Bureau . The Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act is a landmark piece of legislation that was created in the spirit of health care as a right and will support a healthier American public and in the process reduce future health care costs.
In the history of health care reform, both proponents and opponents have cited important documents like the US Declaration of Independence and the US Constitution as reasoning for and against health care being a right for all Americans. Generally, left-wing pundits believe access to at least affordable health care is a human right, siting the Declaration of Independence’s right to “Life,” interpreting it as health care preserving Americans’ lives. In the Preamble to the Constitution, it states that it is the purpose of government to “…promote the general welfare” of the people, and just as education is filed under this, health care should be as well. The United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “…everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of oneself and one's family, including... medical care.” All of these documents have been used as philosophical and moral backing in the health care debate .
Right-wing opponents hold a more strict interpretation of the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. They will site the right to “pursue” happiness in the Declaration of Independence as not a right to happiness or free medical services. It is also just the government’s job to promote the general welfare of the American people, not provide it. In the 2012 Republican Party Platform, Republicans believe the Patient Protection Affordable Care Act is an “…attack on our Constitution…”, describing it as never really about healthcare, just another grab of power by the government for one sixth of the economy, and requiring Americans to buy insurance is an assault on individual freedom .
It is under the “threat” of socialism that the conservative half of the American political spectrum has largely stopped any reform of universal health care system in the United States for more than a century, and it is important to understand because this pressure largely shaped the way the Affordable Care Act was organized and implemented. Starting in the late 1800’s, many western European countries were developing some sort of “social insurance” that later evolved into more complex national insurance plans. Starting with Germany in 1883, countries like Britain developed their own plans by 1912. Ironically, the social insurance policies in Germany and Britain were developed by conservative governments as a political counter-action to take power away from socialist parties and labor unions. Meanwhile, in the U.S., the federal government left the social insurance choice to the states that in turn left it up to private industry, and with labor unions and socialist parties fragmented on the issue, the movement never really gained any momentum even under Theodore Roosevelt .
Following the First World War, the U.S. experienced anti-communism rhetoric that associated compulsory health care to the “…growing threat of communism” so the topic was largely dropped through the twenties and early thirties. The Great Depression made the American people hungry for social reform with millions thrown into poverty. One would think that the Great Depression would be the uniting force that would allow universal health care to be passed; however, it was pushed to the…

birth complications are significantly more common in women without health insurance, preventing them from being able to receive proper prenatal care. Increasing availability and reducing costs of insurance for pregnant women will greatly reduce birth complications.
As of 2010, health care plans are no longer allowed to discriminate. Insurance cannot be denied to women or their children based on pre-existing conditions. In 2014 Health plans based on job status will no longer be able to deny babies…

Health Care Reform
Sharee Allen
HCS/ 235
March 5, 2013
University of Phoenix
Health Care Reform
Health care has changed on every level, since the beginning in which, started from most patients being treated in their homes before the 1920s. But then something happened; doctors started to learn more about diseases and how to treat them, and so doctors started to charge more for their serves (“Stay Smart Stay Healthy,” 2013). It is happening today, where medicine is evolving and the cost…

written by a full committee staff.
The process of lawmaking is a somewhat tedious one. The documentary presented the very relative and present struggles of passing a bill, especially a partisan bill that may be particularly unpopular. The health care reform bill was destined to die at the third step mentioned in the first paragraph, but with the negotiation of tough democrats like Rahm Emanuel, backroom deals were made to assure the bills progress.
What it really seems is that the lawmaking process…

Health Care Utilization
Kerlyn Joseph
HCS/235 Health Care Delivery
January 25, 2010
Anne Packham
Health Care Utilization
With the current health care reform that has been passed, it is now the law and mandatory for people to get health insurance through their employer, government, or individually. Each person should have health insurance to take care of their health. For many years there have been issues concerning with people all across the US, affecting access to the care they want and…

Health Reform Plan Paper
Health care reform has been a controversial topic between the government and public alike for many years now. President Harry Truman in the 1940’s was the first to recognize that our country needed some sort of universal health care (McLaughlin 2008). Fast forward to the year 1990 and little has changed since then. The health care act of the 1990’s proposed by Clinton was one that originally gained momentum but eventually didn’t pass. This was because of a major disconnect…

Massachusetts Health Care
It's safe to say that the passing of the Health Care Program in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney has been very controversial. Mitt Romney has received a lot of criticism when it comes to his health care program. Although a lot of the critics have blown things out of proportion. It has its strengths and weaknesses just like any other program.
Massachusetts health reform program was enacted in 2006 with the intent to expand comprehensive insurance coverage which would increase…

UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE REFORM
Christopher Meyerhoff
Composition I COM1101 BLM1
Brown Mackie College
UNIVERSAL HEALTH CARE REFORM
The United States has a population of approximately 306 million people, of which 45 million are uninsured. According to the Congressional Budget Office, if federal policy is not changed to include Universal Health Care for all Americans, the number of uninsured will increase to 54 million by 2017. Without major reconstruction of our health care system, the…

Marion University
Health Policy and Leadership
APRN 504
Dr. Hopla
Journal 3
It seems that no matter where you are health care reform is a hot topic. In order to meet the needs of the people health care systems must continuously adapt and self-adjust to remain viable. The basic elements of a health care system include: patients, providers, and payers. Patients need insurance to have routine examinations, prevention screening, and guidance with critical or chronic illness. Health care providers can be…

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